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The Manheim Township School District has notified parents that they will no longer be allowed to visit schools to have lunch with their children, a move it says is designed to “ensure a safe learning environment.”

The new policy was approved by the school board on March 21 and is effective May 1.

The policy was described in a letter to parents dated March 22 and signed by the district’s elementary-, intermediate-, middle- and high-school principals.

The letter stated that an exception can be made by each school’s principal if they choose to participate in a celebration such as National Lunch Week. The new policy would not allow parents to bring “restaurant food from outside sources” during such celebrations, however.

Manheim Township school board Thursday agreed to limit any tax increase in next year’s budget to 1.7 percent and approved a five-year contract with superintendent Gene Freeman.

The employment agreement, which runs through June 2018, will pay Freeman in excess of $1 million in salary and compensation over five years, making him the highest-paid superintendent in Lancaster County.

The vote on Freeman’s contract was unanimous, as was the vote to keep a possible tax rate increase for 2013-14 at or below the school district’s Act 1 index of 1.7 percent.

That vote marks a return to form for the district, which had stayed within its state-mandated index every year since 2006 until 2011-12, when it boosted taxes by 3.96 percent in the face of a revenue shortfall of about $4.7 million.

Taxes will be going up next year for all Manheim Township School District property owners, but those whose children participate in sports and other extracurricular activities will face an additional tax burden.

At least that’s how Bob Geisenberger sees it.

Geisenberger, of Suffolk Drive, was one of four residents — two parents and two students — who complained about the school board’s decision to double student participation fees for sports and other after-school activities next year.

The fees will increase from the current $60 for an unlimited number of activities to $120 for the first activity, $80 for the second and $60 for each subsequent activity, with no cap on how much each student or family could pay.

In a near-unanimous vote, Manheim Township school board agreed to use the district’s full taxing power next year and raise property taxes by as much as 4.1 percent.

The decision followed a lengthy discussion focusing on the rising cost of pensions, special-education services and other mandated programs and the extensive cuts in educational programs and staffing the district has made to try to balance next year’s budget.

The cuts have helped narrow a projected $4.7 million revenue gap, but board members said any additional reductions would cause too much harm to students.

Township teachers last week agreed to a two-year salary freeze that is expected to save the district $2 million next year, and 25 teachers have accepted an early retirement incentive that could save another $1.8 million.

The tax rate in next year’s Manheim Township School District budget has yet to be set, but the school board appears to be leaning toward boosting taxes to the maximum.

At the board’s Thursday work session, members discussed a recommendation by superintendent Gene Freeman to take full advantage of Act 1 exceptions granted by the state.

The district could increase property taxes by as much as 4.1 percent in 2012-13, more than twice its base Act 1 index of 1.7 percent, because of exceptions to cover increasing special-education and pension expenses.

Board members won’t vote on the recommendation until next week, but few of them voiced objections to a 4.1 percent hike, which would boost the tax bill for a $150,000 home by $107 next year. A 1.7 percent hike would result in a $44 increase.